Sorter pocket and chute blade construction



Feb. 8, 1949. E. A. FORD lSORTER POCKET AND CHUTE BLADE CONSTRUCTION Filed May 5, 1947 INVENTOR Eugene/Hard AGENT Patented Feb. 8, 1949 einen SQB'IEB ROCKET AND- CHUTE BLADE QoNsTRUCfrIoN Eugene A.Y Ford, Endicott, N- Y assigner to international Business Machines Corporation, New York. N Y.. c corporation of .New 'York Application May 3, 1947, Serial No."14583$ 4 Claims The present invention relates to sor-ting lilo` chines and, more particularly, to. a card receiving pocket construction which. although it is capable of use in connection with a wide variety of sorting machines, is particularly well adapted for use in multiple deck sorting machines Where Spg limitations are a matter ci Concern. Multiple deck sorting machines are broadly ci two types. I n both types, two or more sets of card receiving pockets are yarranged in superimposed relationship with the pockets 'of each set being arranged in alignment so as to Vextend longitudinally oi the machine. The pockets ci each set are completely exposed on the same side of the machine, thus lenabling a vsingle operator to attend to the removal of cards from the variouspockets and do all other necessary 'functions contingent upon proper operation and care of the machine with av minimum amount of lost motion.

In one vtype of multiple deck machine, the various superimposed sets of pockets are each served from a respective card stack by an individual analyzing and distributing system, the cards issuing from the stack 'being conducted directly to the respective pockets to which they have been assigned by the analyzing land distributing system. Such a machine ls'shown in my copending application, Serial No. 748,426, filed May 16, 1947 for a Sorter. In other words, except for the matter of a common drive for the various analyzing vand distributing systems and for impelling the cards through the machine at the various card levels, this type of machine is, for all intents and purposes, the consolidation in a single :framework of a plurality of independent sorting machines.

In the other type oi multi-ple deck sorting machine the various `superimposed sets of pockets are collectively served from a single card stack by a single analyzing and distributing system, the cards proceeding lto various card levels above the various sets of card receiving DQCke-ts `and thereafter being directed to e particular pocket in one of the superimposed sets of pockets. ASuch a machine is shown in my c opending application, `-Serial No. '745.835, lerl Moy 3, 1947 now Potent No- 2,448,788 of vSecteniloer '7, 1948, for a Machine for sorting cords perforated in alphabetic code..

'In either type of multiple deck sorting mae chine. all of the card levels or paths, except the uppermost card level, closely Vunderlies the bot.- tom of the next adjacent set of card receiving pockets, thereby rendering the cards at this level inaccessible to the operator in the event of a card Vlvm or other mechanical failure associated with card level therebeneath and which is easily replaced by a simple snap action.

The Provision of e pocket construction of the character Set v,forth above being the principal oloject of the invention, another object thereoi is to provide a pocket arranger-noot which .is .extremely simple in its construction and which may be oonstructed of light sheet metal stampings, tlius materially reducing the cost oi the same.

A stillfurther object of the invention is to pro'- vide a card pocket construction in which the var ions individual pockets are substantially identical and are easily installed in a series relationship, thus further contributing toward economy of manufacture of the machine.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an extremely simple and improved electrical card stop which is peculiarly Well adapted foruse .in connection with the improved type of card rer Vceiving pockets.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,- which disclose, by Way oi example, the principle ofthe invention and the best mode, which has. vbeen contemplated, of applying thatprinciple.

In the drawings: Y

Flgl is a fragmentary side elevational view of a card receiving pocket constructed in laccordance with the io,rlllolples of the present invention Showing the seme installed in. o. Sorting machine- This view also shows a portion of tWQ adjacent card. receiving pockets.

Fia 2 is a top pleo view oi the structure Shown in Fig. 1, certelnperts being broken away' to more Clearly reveal the nature oi the invention.

Fig- 3 is e Sectional view 'teken substantially along the line :3-.3 of Ele, l in the direction lodioeted bv the arrows e Fig. e is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 4 4 of Fig. l in the direction inclicated by the arrows. Y

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail side elevational view of one corner of the improved card receiving pocket. Y

Referring now to the drawings in detail `andin particular to Fig. l, this vfigure represents a cene tral region of a lmultiple deck sorting machine and shows in side elevation a complete card receiving pocket, together with fragmentary por Ybeen so labeled in Fig. 1.

lmachine from their respective supports.

tions of adjacent card receiving pockets at the same level and also a fragmentary portion of one pocket in the level therebeneath. Only those portions of the sorting machine directly concerned with the installation of the card receivingpockets have been illustrated.

The sorting machine involvesin its general organization a front plate lll and a rear plate i2 and between these two plates there are installed Y two sets or series of card receiving pockets inciuding an upper set designated in itskentirety at le and a lower set designated in its entirety at I6. in the upper set, a single pocket is shown in side elevation with fragmentary portions of the next pocket to the left and the next pocket to the right also appearing in the view. In the lower set I6 a fragmentary portion of a single pocket appears.

An enlarged opening E8 is formed in the front plate l and to further identify this opening the upper edge thereof is indicated at and the lower edge at 22. This opening spans the entire upper set of pockets i4. Similarly, an opening, the lower edge of which is identified at 2d, spans the entire -lower set of pockets IB. Both openings just described being formedon the same side of the Vmachiney i. e., in the plate I 6, an operator working on this side of the machine thus has vconvenientaccess to both sets of pockets and a minimum amount of lost motion is involved, while attending to the machine.

A plurality of upper card supports 26 extend across the machine from the front plate I to the rear plate I2 and are spaced along the machine at intervals and serve in part to support there- 'beneath the various upper card receiving pockets.

These card supporting plates 26 have their upper edges at the same horizontal level and dene among themselves an upper card line which has Aplurality of lower card supports 28, similar to the supports 25, define among themselves a lower card line, likewise labeled in this figure. Upper pairs of card irnpeiling rolls 3B are associated with the card' supports 25 and, similarly, lower card impelling rolls 32 are associated with the lower card supports 28.

' The forward edges of eachof the card supports 26 are beveled as at 21 to provide a card defiecting surface whereby the card advancing along the card line may be deected downwardly into the respective. pockets to which they have been assigned and for which they are intended. A plurality of relatively narrow chute blades 29 vwhich may be formed of splg S'el 01' the like are welded as at 3| to the upper surfaces of the supports 26 and extend forwardly of the The chute blades 29 are of varying lengths, each terminating at its respective pocket and serving to guide the forward edges of the cards onto the deiiecting surface 2l so that the cards may be deflected downwardly by the latter` The action of the deflecting surface 21 is supplemented, at each pocket by a deiiecting blade 21a, which is sprung upward by the card feeding into the pocket and throws the rear edge of the card down, as soon as it is released by the feed rolls, thus causing the card to settle into the pocket withv the correct side upward.

The upper card receiving pockets are suspended from and are in part supported by the card supports 26 and the lower card receiving pockets are li-@Wise suspended from and partly supported frm the card supports 2S. The pockets of the upper series and of the lower series beingidenti- 4 cal, it is thought that a description of one will suirice for the other.

Each pair of card receiving pockets includes two pairs of depending sheet metal members or strips 34, the strips of each pair being arranged in parallelism and having their upper ends turned laterally and spot welded as at 36 or otherwise secured to the underneath surface of the card supports 26.V The members 3d are curved in a region designated at 33 with a relatively large Y radius of curvature. In the extreme upper regions and in the extreme lower regions thereof the members 34 are substantially straight. Each pair ofmembers 3d constitutes the forward restrainingwall of one card receiving pocket and the rearward 'restraining wall of the next adjacent card receiving pocket. In other words, each pair of members 3d constitutes an open frame-like partition between adjacent card receiving pockets. The members 35 extend downwardly to a point adjacent the lower edge 22 of the opening I8 and their lower ends are turned laterally as at 3e and are clamped to theunderneath side of a-laterally extendingsupporting bar lil which is generally of rectangular shape in cross section. Each of 'the bars 40 is supported solely from the rear plate t2 by means of a cap screw 42 which passes through a hole 44 formed in the rear plate l2 and which is .threadedly received as at 45' in the squared supporting bar 4B. The rear plate i2 and cap screws Vft2 form the sole supporting means for each of the bars dii. The forward ends of the bars 40 are spaced from the plane. of the front plate l0.

The manner in which the laterally turned lower ends 39 of the members 34 are clamped to their respective supporting bars el) is clearly illustrated in Fig. 5. Referring to this ligure, and also Fig. 4, it will be seen that each bar i9 is provided with a pair of recesses d8 therein, which recesses com- 40 municate with atransverse bore 5E extending completely through the bar. A cap screw 52 having vits head disposed in countersunk fashion in the recess 48 extendscompletely through the bore 56 and has its extreme end threadedly received as at 54 ina circular plate 56. vThe threaded portion or bore formed in the circular plate 5t is 'eccentrically disposedwith respect to theplate,v i. e., it is removed somewhat from the center of the circular plate 'and in assembling the;various parts the major portion of the plate vprojects inl a forward direction relative tothe card line andthe extent of the plate 55 is such that it projects beyond the plane of the lower portion of its respective member 34, thus forming a ledge 58, the purpose of which will be set forth presently. i

Each of the card receiving pockets is provided with a removable bottom plate designated in its entirey at Bil. This bottom plate is best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4 and is formed of light, relatively thin, sheet metal.V The plate is generally of rectangular conguration and has a rear edge region 62 adapted to rest upon the pair of supporting plates 5S. The forward edge region 64 of the plate 6d is adapted to rest upon the top surface of one of the 'squared supporting .bars 4B. Each plate 68 is providedwith a' struckout tongue 56 which is curved as at 68 and whichis adapted to be snapped into position in frictiona-l engagement with the rear side of a respective supporting bar t8, as shown at the lower'righthand corner of Fig. 1." The tongue 66, when the plate G0 is in position in the pocket structure,

Vfrictionally bears against the side ofV the'supporting bar 40 and maintains the plate 6 0 securely in merely necessary to place the rear edge 62 thereof in position on the shelf-like region or ledge, 58 oi the plates 56 and swing the .plate 60 downwardly so that the curved portion 68 of the tongue 66 engages the side of one of the bars 4D and passes over a ydead center position so'that theplate 60 snaps into position and is securely held therein 'u ntil such time as the operator chooses to remove the plate by a reversal of the installation process.

Various `methods of installation of the pocket structure are possible but a preferred .method consists in iirst positioning all of the transverse supporting bars 40 on the rear plate I2 ofthe vsorting machinel and tightening the cap `screws rl2 so as to render these supporting bars rigid.

Thereafter, the laterally turned'portions 3B `ofthe members 34 may be spot welded in proper position on the underneath sides of the card supports 26. The cap screws 52 may then he passed through Ythe bores 50 and through the'laterally turned portionsv 39 of the members 34 and the A'plates 56 may then be threaded onto the lower 38 or one of the members 34. Obviously, this pocket stop maybe placed on either one of the vpair of members 34, but in the present invention, or purposes of illustration, the pocket stops vare shown as being positioned on the iront members of each pair, i. e., vthe members which are on the operator-s side of the sorting machine.

Each pocket stop includes an insulating block 12 which is secured by a mit and bolt arrangement 14 to the member 34.' A'pair of contact arms 16 and 1 8 carry therebetween a pair of normally open contacts 80, the contact assembly being secured to and supported from the'block 12 by 'means ofthe nut and bolt `arrangement 14.'

The arms 1Samu 18 are insulated ir'oin each other and also from the metallic member 34. The lower contact arm 18 is relatively long and its free end terminates adjacent the underneath side of the member 34. The contact arms 16 and 18 r are provided with contact leads 82 which may be connected in any suitable manner to a relay mechanism, not shown, the purpose of which is to open the circuit leading to the sorting machine motor.

It will be seen :that cards entering the card rcceiving pockets under the guiding action of the chute blades 29 Will have their oncoming edges deilected downwardly by the inclined surface 21 of the card supports 26. The first oncoming card will thus fall into the pocket with its oncoming edge postioned downwardly. Because of the slight inclination of the bottom plate 60, the forward edge of the card will slide into position and occupy one corner of the vpocket and the card will eventually lie flush with the inclined bottom plate 60 thereof. The cards will pile up within the pocket similarly oriented to form a stack until such time as the level of the lower or free end of the contact arm 18 of the pocket stop 10 is attained. The next oncoming card to be received in the pocket will seek a level above the level of the free end of the contact arm 18 and,`

because the width of the card is slightly greater than the distance from the free end of the arm ascisse 'is to the `remotemail or thepacket. ,as leaned :by

the two membersl 34,the -contact'arm 18 will be deflected, thus closing the proffcorxtactsaD/and operating the lrelay mechanism, thusy causingthq machine to cease its operation.

-Thepurpose of making 'the bottom plate ill-oi' the various pockets-removable.. .particularly where 'the upper row or tier of vcardireceiving--poolrets gis concerned. is to `attimi access to the lower line there'benea'th.' sometimes thepaseia feard Jam. may occur and'in 'such an instance. Vwith permanent bottoms, littlehand space would be afforded for f'remedying the condition. *By `means of the .present .pocket no'nsljmtiotion, fthe visibility of the lower-card j'line is not impaired and the operator `is readily-able todetferminetlie exact location along the card :line where `.the

source of trouble resefuited 'in a card 4jam is situated; V it is Athen merely necessary .torfemovefthe 'individuaibottom plate 69, which .is immediately above the source of the trouble, so Ythat .freeseand Apointe-c1 out 'the v"fanelemental novel features .ci the invention'as applied :to a rneierredembodi-y ment, it w'illbe understood that various omissions and -sub'stitutfions and changes in rthe form and details "of the apparatus illustrated andin .its o peration may be made by those skilled in thefart, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. lt is the intention, -thereforetobelimited Aonly 4'as indicated by the scope "of ltheicllowing 'blalmsr vWhat is claimedis:

i. Aa 'card 'pocket 'eiistruetiom 1a pair --pi `partition membersr 4ifieiijnirrg i a partition means 'for securing the upper-.ends of rsain .niembers A'from 'a 'supportin'g'suriace .at 'spacedpoints said k"partition members extending'downwardly from the supporting surta-ce yinslacei relation'. ship; fa'supporting vcar for the'iower ends 'or said partition members, means kior supporting said bar from a supporting surface, 'there ubeingapairfnf bores formed transversely in sai-d parat-'spaced points therea'iong, the lower ends of Veach 4:ir-salici supporting members being turned laterally, a

threaded cap screw extending through each of said bores and having its lower end passing through the laterally turned end of one of said partition members. and a shelf member disposed below said laterally turned end of each of said partition members and into which one .of said cap screws is threadedly received, lsaid shelf member extending forwardly of Vits respective partition member and providing a supporting surface' thereon, said pair of partitionl members forming a, dividing wall between adjacent card receiving pockets in a series thereof, said supporting surface being designed tol receivetheren the rear edge of a removable p 'oclg'zet bottom plate for the pocket on the forward side of said partition wall and said supporting bar being de-Y signed to receive thereon the forward edge o f another bottom plate for the Ipocket on the rear side of said partition wall.

2. In a multiple deck sorting machine having an upper card line and a lower card line, a ver# tically extending front plate and a vertically extending rear plate, a plurality of upper card supporting members extending across said plates in spaced relationship and defining the upper card line, a plurality of upper card supporting members extending between said plates and de;

lining a lower card line, a multiple card receivY 

